BY KATHY RUDD/ VOICE CORRESPONDENT
THE STATE JOURNAL-REGISTER
Posted Oct 13, 2008 @ 11:58 PM
Last update Oct 14, 2008 @ 11:35 AM
Editor's note: The following story comes from our Voice section, which is written for and by local teens. Sample more at www.sj-r.com/voice

Anna Speckhart is it. Never mind exactly what “it” is, Anna has it.

At least, that’s what Sarah Petty, local photographer and owner of Sarah Petty Photography, saw when she first had Anna in her studio.

According to Petty, Anna, a 19-year-old Pittsfield High School graduate, is the model everyone will be talking about in years to come.

Anna began her climb to fame after getting her senior pictures taken at Sarah Petty Photography. Later, she entered a contest to attend the annual Senior Portrait Artists convention and won. There, she learned modeling techniques, posed for photos at the resort where the conference was held and competed in a fashion show.

Petty, who attended the conference with her coworkers — senior photographers Kari Abate, 34, and Andria Crawford-Whitehead, 24 — said it was through this fashion show that a modeling scout realized Anna’s potential and sent her name to AIG Models, her current managing company.

Now, Anna is modeling for several big names in Los Angeles.

She modestly insists she can’t remember all of the companies she’s done photo shoots for, but several impressive names top the list: an editorial shoot for “Bride and Bloom” magazine that currently can be found at Target, a fashion show for Roxy and modeling for Split USA are among the things Anna counts as work experience.

And then there’s modeling for Abercrombie and Fitch, being a poster girl for Forever 21 and doing photo shoots with Express, to name a few more.

Anna graduated from Pittsfield in 2007, after which she headed to the University of Missouri at Columbia to study textile management and business. While studying, Anna continually made trips to Los Angeles to model, but the pressures of working and studying became too much for her. She is currently taking a few years off from school to pursue her career.

“I’m out (in Los Angeles) to work; I’m not out there to play,” she said.

So what does it take to make it from everyday, average teen to successful model? For Anna, a simple day at the Senior Portrait Artists convention was all she needed.

Any of the seniors who have their portraits done by Abate or Crawford-Whitehead are eligible to enter the SPA competition for the free trip.

Petty said six to eight national winners are chosen, and Anna was one of the talented few to compete in the SPA show.

“She didn’t have any training at all,” Abate said of Anna’s performance at the fashion show. “She just hit the runway and knew exactly how to walk.”

Anna said she lives a busy life in L.A. When she isn’t posing in a photo shoot or strutting down the catwalk, a typical day for her includes several casting sessions. She said each casting usually consists of a brief interview with the advertisers and the photographer, a quick try-on of an outfit for sizing purposes and a snapshot of Anna so they can put a face with her name.

Castings are either open or by request, and there are always several other girls there. The modeling industry, Anna said, is really competitive.

“I get turned down a lot,” she said. “I can’t book every casting I go to.”

Of the photo shoots she has done, Anna said she doesn’t have a favorite. They’re all unique and fun, she said, and she’s been lucky not to have any bad experiences.

One of the most positive things Anna said she has gotten out of her modeling experiences is a determination to work hard.

“I never used to be hard-working,” she said, adding that success in the modeling industry is about how much time a model is willing to put in to her castings, and it’s a pretty tough field.

“I don’t want to call it hard, but it’s a lot harder than people think — it’s definitely not easy,” she said.

For now, however, Anna is happy putting in the extra work to make her career a success. In a job that has taken her all over the country and that has put her in some pretty strange outfits, Anna said she is having a lot of fun, but she realizes that there is life after her spotlight career.

“As long as I’m happy doing this, I’ll do it,” she said. “But if I get worn out, I’ll quit. I can’t do this forever.”